Micol Ostow – Mom Read It

The Gilmore Girls: At Home in Stars Hollow, by Micol Ostow/Illustrated by Cecilia Messina, (Sept. 2023, Insight Kids), $18.99, ISBN: 9798886631449

Ages 4+

Spreading the Gilmore Girls love to a new generation, The Gilmore Girls: At Home in Stars Hollow joins luminaries such as Parks & Rec, The Office, The X-Files, and Charmed in the picture book ranks. At Home in Stars Hollow introduces mother-daughter pair Lorelei and Rory, who look back on their lives after arriving Stars Hollow, from their beginnings in the small shed behind the Independence Inn to Lorelei’s promotion to running the Inn. Popular characters from the show make an appearance, like Melissa McCarthy’s memorable chef, Sookie, and Rory’s friend, Lane. Friendly cartoon art includes series touchstones that will delight fans of the show and intrigue newcomers to the series. Ostow brings the warmth of the series to the printed page by giving the reader a sense of Stars Hollow’s coziness and friendliness; Ostow and Messina together bring the love between mother and daughter, Lorelei and Rory, to the forefront. It’s a great trip back in time for readers, as Ostow herself states in the story: “Once upon a time—back when every schoolchild had a Trapper Keeper and the Go-Go’s ruled the radio—there was a very special place called Stars Hollow”. An essential add to pop culture storybook collections.

Amity, by Micol Ostow. Egmont USA (2014), $17.99, 9781606841563

Pub Date: September 2014

Recommended for ages 14+

Told in parallel narratives, 10 years apart, Amity is a creepy, horrifying tale of a home, rotten to its core, and the effect it has on two families. We have two narrators, both in their late teens – around 17: Connor and Gwen – who provide readers with first-hand accounts of their descents into madness, and Amity’s history, which appears to lead them to it.

Connor and Gwen each have siblings they are close to, seemingly keeping them rooted in some sort of reality, at first. Connor is a sociopath with an anger management problem and far deeper, darker issues roiling under his surface. His twin sister, Jules, is the only thing in the world he has any feeling toward. He and his family arrive at Amity when his father – a shady businessman and an abusive drunk – attempts to escape yet another bad series of business deals.

Gwen’s family arrives at Amity looking for respite. Gwen has recently been hospitalized for a psychotic break, and the family just wants to start over. When Amity reveals herself to Gwen, her brother, Luke, attempts to stem the tide of what he initially believes is her breakdown, returning. Gwen’s Aunt Ro knows better, though. She may be portrayed at first as some sort of new age free spirit, we see Amity set to work on her, too.

Amity is alive, and she feeds on her occupants. She starts slowly, insidiously, but once she has her claws in you, you can’t escape.

There may be parallels drawn between Amity and the Amityville Horror – haunted house, violent history, even the eye-shaped windows of the home – but Amity stands very much on her own. Ms. Ostow builds a layered, compulsive tale – I couldn’t stop reading it – of growing horror with a shattering conclusion. Teens who grew up on the shock horror of films like Hostel and Saw need to sit down and read a good, old-fashioned, scare-the-pants-off-you haunted house story. Amity is that story.

Tag: Micol Ostow

The Gilmore Girls go to the picture books!

Amity is a chilling YA tale of haunted house horror.